Herod: Rich Man's War...Poor Man's Fight

Growing up in the glory days of the early & mid '80's, I had the chance to hear & watch the Metal scene grow into the beast that the forefathers made it into today. With the likes of Priest, Maiden, Saxon, Raven, Accept, Metallica & Motorhead leading the way into the classic N.W.O.B.H.M ( New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) and the beginnings of the Thrash movement, it is easy to hear the main influences of Buffalo, NY's Herod. However, Herod's first full length CD, Rich Man's War..Poor Man's Fight (Lifehouse Records) falls way short of living up to their heroes footsteps.

Rich Man's War...Poor Man's Fight sounds very much like it was written & recorded in the early '80's. The songs have a garage band quality to them, with the group sometimes trying to play above their abilities. With vocalist Jason Russo's '80's Metal shrieks at every opportunity, this reinforces their "local band" vibe. Imagine if you will, Rush's iconic Geddy Lee and the annoying "balls being beaten hit by a hammer screaming" of Mark Slaughter, and you have the vocal styling's of Russo. The musicianship is at best average, as the guitar duo tries their best to do guitar harmonies, but fall way short. To be honest, they sound more like beginners than two guitar players who are signed to a record label.

Herod do their best early Metallica rendition on a few tracks and that is about the only life that is shown on this release. They try to replace speed for any type of substance of a real song ,making this is a below average CD at best. I couldn't even find a track to highlight in this review. Their Metal heroes are as bored as I was.

TRACK LISTING

1. Assimilation
2. All Night
3. One Life To Burn
4. Lies And Betrayal
5. The Fire
6. Broken Promises
7. Forever
8. The Ring
9. Grand Design
10. Journey Of Creation

Added: December 19th 2006
Reviewer: Butch Jones
Score:
Related Link: Herod Website
Hits: 2581
Language: english

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